ATLANTA – Willie Mays, the greatest living baseball player, was asked yesterday about that famous photograph of him playing stickball with the kids from the neighborhood.

It’s more than a photo to Mays. It’s a memory. One that brings a smile to his face and warmth to his bones.

“I lived at 155th and St. Nicholas Place, right behind the backstop of the Polo Grounds,” Mays said. “I loved kids and I wanted to be part of the neighborhood. To be part of the neighborhood I would play stickball with the kids. After we got through playing I would take them out for ice cream.”

It pains Mays that gangfire has replaced ballgames in the streets of cities across America. That’s why, he said, he so looks forward to a meeting he has Friday in San Francisco with officials from the parks and rec department.

“We need to figure out why more inner city kids aren’t interested in playing baseball,” Mays said. “More kids from the inner city are playing basketball and football. We need to go out and say, ‘OK, this is what we need you to do.’ We need to convince them that baseball is a good game.”

“Seems like he’s a very good outfielder,” Mays said. “When he first was pointed out to me I said, ‘That’s good, he’s 19. Let’s see if he can play 22 more years.’ He plays very shallow. That’s good if he can go back to the wall to make catches. I’m always being asked about someone. Andre Dawson. Eric Davis. Cesar Cedeno. Every year they come up with somebody new. Some day they’re going to find one.”